Austin in 1966: The sights and the sounds

By Craig Hlavaty

on July 28, 2016 2:30 PM

What Austin was like in 1966

The city of Austin was just a sleepy college town in 1966. It would grow by leaps and bounds with the next few 50 years into a community influence by tech companies, musicians, and transplants looking for an undefinable Texas vibe.

Sixth Street wasn’t the carnival
of bars and nightlife it would come to be by the ‘80s and ‘90s. It was rather
in decline, with only scattered shops and vacant buildings, a sort of skid row.
I-35’s construction in 1959 separated the street’s east and west sides,
creating a barrier somewhat. College life was concentrated on Guadalupe Street,
or “The Drag” as came to be known.

Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elavators performs on the Larry Kane Show in 1967, in Houston Texas. The Austin-based band released its debut album in the months after the tower massacre. Lead single "You're Gonna Miss Me" was already a hit that summer.

John Lennon told the London Evening Standard that the group was "more popular than Jesus" in a March 1966 interview, sparking outcry from Christians around the world. The group's "Paperback Writer" dominated the charts during the summer of 1966.

John Lennon told the London Evening Standard that the group was "more popular than Jesus" in a March 1966 interview, sparking outcry from Christians around the world. The group's "Paperback Writer" dominated

“In my recollection, in 1966, Austin was a hotbed of liberals and
cowboys and the university crowd,” Larry Todd, the second news
director at TV and radio station KHFI told the Austin American Statesman recently.

Not that much has changed then “In my recollection, in...photo-10679912.132841 - |ucfirst

Governor Connally

Texas Governor John B. Connally standing outside of the state capitol while being surrounded by autograph seekers in 1966. Connally would serve as governor from 1963 until 1969. He also knew something about sniper fire, sadly.

The hottest day of 1966 was July
31. The high temperature that day was 99 degrees, closing out the hottest month
of the year in Austin. Some of Whitman's victims that would survive would not only be shot but also suffer severe burns from the pavement they fell on.

The city of Austin was just a sleepy college town in 1966. It would grow by leaps and bounds with the next few 50 years into a community influence by tech companies, musicians, and transplants looking for an undefinable Texas vibe.